This moment

by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi

English version by Coleman Barks
Original Language Persian/Farsi & Turkish

This moment
This LOVE
comes to rest in me,
many beings in one being
In one wheat-grain
a thousand sheaf stacks.

Inside the needle's eye
a turning night of stars.
This moment --
This LOVE.

-- from The Illuminated Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks / Michael Green

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/ Image by Ha-Wee /


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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Leave it to a poet like Rumi to give us a phrase like--

Inside the needle's eye
a turning night of stars.
This moment --
This LOVE.


The beauty of the image and words is so transporting that we can miss the profound esoteric truth being revealed here:

The human spirit, in its constant quest and hunger, looks for ever larger, greater experiences that expand our reach until we can encompass and hold everything. Even in the spiritual journey we want to be so big we don't have to deal with the mundane moment. And this is the hardest part -- letting go of that impulse.

You see, here's the secret Rumi whispers to us in these lines... Don't get bigger; get smaller. Become so small that you can finally rest in the tiniest of spaces -- "this moment." Do that, come to rest here, right here, fully, and this moment, which you feared would be so small you'd suffocate ("inside the needle's eye"), surprises you by becoming a window to the Infinite ("a turning night of stars").

Do that, and your heart unfolds in ways you hadn't known possible, flooding you with an all-encompassing awareness of bliss and love.

It is not a journey of years, it is a journey of one moment--

This moment --
This LOVE.



Recommended Books: Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi

The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology) This Dance of Bliss: Ecstatic Poetry from Around the World Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from Sufi Wisdom
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This moment